By Stephen Cunningham
LONDON (Reuters) – UK patients suffering from terminal cancer will soon get the chance to test cannabis-based medicines if a pioneering British pharmaceutical company gets its way.
GW Pharmaceuticals, which has a government license to grow cannabis, said Wednesday it is expanding its clinical trials program to include an effort to ease the pain of cancer patients. Trials involving patients with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury have already produced positive data, it said.
While cannabis use is illegal, many people in the UK suffering from serious diseases have been lobbying for its use for medicinal purposes.
GW said more than 100 patients with terminal cancer who are suffering pain that is not responding to current therapy will take part in trials at more than 20 centers throughout the country. Patients will not actually smoke the drug, but instead will use an under-the-tongue spray.
Executive Chairman Geoffrey Guy said this represented a key milestone for GW since "cannabis-based medicine has the potential to provide considerable advantages over current medications to cancer patients."
Around 40% of cancer patients could benefit if the trials is successful, he added.
Guy said GW was on course to become the first company in the world to win regulatory approval for prescription cannabis-based medicines.
"We remain confident of being able to present data to the UK regulatory authorities in 2003, and — subject to approval — bring the first cannabis-based prescription medicine to market in early 2004,'' Guy said.
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